Centrifugal disk mill with adjustable impactor



G. E. HULSE 2,428,670 CENTRIFUGAL DISK MILL WITH ADJUSTABLE IMPACTOR Oct. 7, 1947.

2 Sheets$heet 1 Filed Dec. 8, 1943 I I I INVENTOR.

BY 'o/ye E: #4175 Patented Oct. 7,1947

CENTRIFUGAL DISK MILL WITH ADJUSTABLE HVIPACTOR George E. Hulse, New Haven, Conn, assignor to The Safety Car Heating and Lighting Company, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Application December 8, 1943, Serial No. 513,387

3 Claims. (Cl. 241-488) This invention relates to milling apparatus for milling grain or the like.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a thoroughly practical, efficient, and economical apparatus for milling grain or a like product. Another object is to provide apparatus of the above character which is simple in construction and capable of continuously milling a flowing stream of grain or the like. Another object is to provide a construction of the above character in which the product is impacted to effect an amount of disintegration advantageous in the separating processes to follow. Another object is to provide apparatus of the above character capable of disintegrating the grain to the desired amount for efllcient milling without undesirable crushing of certain other parts of the grain berry such as the germ. Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, arrangements of parts and in the several steps and relation and order of each of the same to one or-more of the others, all as will be illustratively described herein, and the scope of the application of which will be indicatedin the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the many possible embodiments of this invention:

Figure l is a vertical elevation of the milling apparatus certain of the parts thereof having been broken away;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of certain of the parts shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective of a portion of the apparatus shown in Figure 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

The preparation of cereal grains such as wheat,

for consumption as food involves disintegration of the grain. This disintegration produces the proper granulation for further processing and permits the separation of the different structural parts of the grain into classes so that each class may be applied to the particular use for which it is intended. For example, in treating wheat grain to make flour for white bread the disintegration process reduces the portion of the 2 wheat berry most desirable for use in white bread to the powdered form of flour best adapted to the process of bread-making. During. the process of reducing this portion of the grain to flour, it is possible to separate out other portions of the wheat berry which are undesirable constituents in a flour for white bread. These undesirable constituents may be used for other purposes or may be discarded. Furthermore, the remaining portions of the berry may be separated into different grades of flour suitable for different types of white bread.

To accomplish the desired disintegration of the grain, it is necessary to apply sufficient force to break up those portions which are to be finely granulated into powder form. At the same time it is desirable to limit the stress applied to the grain so that other parts which may be later separated will not be broken to the same fineness as the parts which are eventually to be used as the meal or flour. If the disintegration can accomplish these objectives, the necessary separations which accompany such disintegration can be made by apparatus which may operate either on the basis of difference in size of the particles to be separated or difference in their specific weights. It is one of the several objects of this invention to provide apparatus capable of accomplishing such desired disintegration.

Referring now to Figure 1, the apparatus includes a top casing generally indicated at 10 supported on legs generally indicated at II. Top casing ID has formed therein a pair of chutes l2 and I3 merging into a central, circular opening M. An inverted dish-shaped liner generally indicated at It having a central opening l6 beneath opening I4 is secured to casing ill by screws 11. A funnel-shaped hopper 18 having an outlet I9 is secured to the bottom edge of liner l5 by a clamp bar 20, thus providing an enclosure wherein grain may enter through spouts 2| and 22' to pass through openings I4 and I6 and thence after treatment as hereafter described out through outlet l9.

Casing I 0 is also shaped into a motor support 23 for a motor generally indicated at 24 and having an armature shaft 25. Shaft 25 carries a rotary treating device generally indicated at 26. Treating device 26 includes a hub portion 21 which is generally frusto-conical in shape and extends through opening iii of liner l5 and open ing ll of casing iii. A collar 28 fits beneath opening it and adjacent opening. 16 and has aeaaevo a slanting surface to direct the product from chutes I2 and I3 directly on the hub 21.

Treating element 28 also includes an annular plate 29 secured to hub 21 and extending radially therefrom. As best seen in Figures 1 and 3,

line passing through the centers of the impactors. Rows A and B of impactors 38 are concentric and radially spaced with the impactors of row A,'

circumferentially spaced from the impactors of row B so that the impactors of row A lie intermediate the irnpactors of row B. Still referring to Figure 3, the impactors of row A are radially.

spaced from the periphery of hub Portion 21. Accordingly a flowing product fanned out from the hub portion in a manner to be described hereinafter must travel some distance before engagement with the impactors in row A. As better seen in Figure 1, the hub portion 21 has a frusto-conical surface 21a terminating in a ver- 1 tical cylindrical surface 21b.v Thus the bottom edge of the frusto-conical surface 21a is spaced above the top of the annular supporting .plate 29. Therefore, a product directed downwardly over the frusto-conical surface 21a in a manner to be presently described drops off this edge above the supporting plate 29 and is directed outwardly through space toward the innermost,

row A of impactors 38. Referring now to Figures 2 and 3, there is row .0 of stationary impactors generally indi-j cated at 3| disposed between rows A and B. Im-

pactors 3| extend through suitable holes formed in the top of liner l5 and are secured to aring 32 as by riveting. Thus-vertical movement of ring 32 will vary the length of impactors 3| dis-, posed between the rows of impactors 30.

To provide for vertical adjustment of the ring 32, there is a. collar 33 fitting within ring 32 and fitting about the annulus 34 forming the top of the central opening iii in liner IS. A collar 35 is clamped between annulus 34 and the casing l8 and fits over a cut-out portion 33aof collar 33 to hold collar '33 in position. I

Referring to Figures 4 and 5, bayonet slots 38 are formed in the periphery of collar 33 and projections 32a of ring 32 extend therein. An arm 31 is secured to collar 33, as shown in Figures 1 and 4, and extends through a slot 38 in the side wall of liner IE to terminate in a handle 38a.

Accordingly, movement of arm 31 rotates collar 33, and the bayonet slot connections thus move ring 32 vertically according to the direction of rotation of the collar. Arm 31 may be provided with a locking bolt 39 which may be screwed against the side of liner I5 to lock the arm and thus the associated parts in the desired position. A suitable scale may be provided on the side of the liner adjacent the slot 38 to indicate the vertical position of the impactors 3|. In this man-j net the stationary impactors 3| may be adjusted to any desired vertical position between impactors 30. Furthermore, if desired, the impactors 3| may be moved above impactors 30 and thus out of the path of any product, flowing through the treating device.

In operation the spouts 2| and 22 are connected to conduits carrying the product to be treated and the discharge outlet I9 is connected to a conduit leading to separating apparatus in a manner to be more fully described hereinafter. The product is fed through the spouts 2| and 22 at a uniform rate and the treating element is rotated by the motor 24 at high speed. As the product strikes the frusto-conical surface 21a of the hub 21, it is directed downwardly and outwardly between the hub and the collar. 28. Due to the high speed of the treating element, the product rapidly picks up a rotary motion and is discharged outwardly in a disc-like stream from the lower edge of the frusto-conical surface 21a toward the row A of impactors 38. As it moves outwardly, the

individual grains are hit by the impactors in row A and thrown outwardly to hit again against the stationary impactors 3|. The force of this impact throws the particles of grain or whole grains against the impactors in row B from which the particles ofthe product are discharged at a high rate of speed and hit against the inner, curving surface of the liner l5 opposite the periphery of the treating device 26. The product then falls down through the hopper l8 and out through the outlet i9. The various impacts which the particles of grain constituting the product receive as they pass through the machine disintegrate the grain into smaller particles. .As the grain is so disintegrated, the smaller particles are again impacted for further breakage. and it will be seen that this process continues as the product passes through what might be termed the treatment zone, i. e., the space bounded by the plate 29, the inner row A of impactors 30, and the liner l5.

In practice where the object is to reduce grain to meal or flour, the speed of the treating element 29 may be approximately 3500 R. P. M., and at such speed it has been found desirable to use the following dimensions for some of the parts of the apparatus, referring to Figures 1 and 2:

Distance R=l8 inches Distance S=5% inches Distance T=9 /4 inches Distance U=13 A inches Distance V=1 Ainches It will be understood that these speeds and dimen sions may be varied according to the particular results desired.

The apparatus described above may be used with marked success in a continuous milling operation wherein the object is to reduce a grain to a final product such as flour.

It will thus be seen that the several objects hereinabove referred to have been successfully and practically accomplished.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the mechanical features of the above invention and as the art herein described might be varied in various parts, all without departing from the scope of the invention, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for milling grain, the combination of, means forming an enclosure and including atop wall having a product opening therein, a rotor fixed to a vertical shaft positioned in said opening with the rotor having a radial flange portion positioned beneath the periphery of said opening, means to impart rotary motion to said rotor through said shaft, means to supply a stream of the product through said opening to said rotor, a plurality of movable impactors which are rectangular in cross-section and are mounted on said rotor and positioned in two circular rows concentric with the axis of rotation with an annular space between the two rows, a plurality o1 stationary cylindrical impactors mounted on said top wall and projecting downwardly therefrom into said annular space, and adjustable mounting means for said cylindrical impactors comprising two elements one of which is mounted on said top wall and the other of whichhas said cylindrical impactors attached thereto, one of said elements having a plurality of helical cam grooves and the other of said elements having a corresponding number of lugs which project respectively into said grooves, said elements being mounted so that one of them may be rotated through a predetermined are so that said lugs ride in said grooves and the element to which said cylindrical impactors are attached and said cylindrical impactors are moved axially with respect to the axis of rotation.

2. In milling apparatus, the combination of, a casing including a top wall having a circular opening therethrough, a rotor positioned beneath said opening and mounted to rotate about a vertical axis, a plurality of movable impactors fixed to said rotor and positioned in two radially spaced circular rows concentric with the axis of rotation and with an annular space between the rows, a plurality of stationary impactors projecting through openings in said top wall into said annular space whereby the product passes the inner row of rotatable impactors and is projected against said stationary impactors and is thereafter projected against the outer row 01' movable impactors, and means to move said stationary impactors axially with respect to the axis of rotation comprising a ring to which all of said stationary impactors are fixed with said ring having a plurality of integral radial lugs and a slotted GEORGE E. HULSE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 211,316 Bennett Jan. 14, 1879 250,125 Bennett Nov. 29, '1881 273,829 Elberg Mar. 13, 1883 310,709 Nagel et al. Jan. 13, 1885 316,405 Schuman Apr. 21, 1885 587,688 Abbe Aug. 10, 1897 1,341,200 Schnuck May 25, 1920 1,752,888 Cloud Apr. 1, 1930 1,947,953 Otto Feb. 20, 1934 2,019,013 Kopf et al. Oct. 29, 1935 2,100,020 Andrews Nov. 23, 1937 2,199,015 Toensfeldt Apr. 30, 1940 2,339,737 Hulse Jan. 18, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 372,428 Germany 1923 545,336 Germany 1932 20,115 Great Britain Jan. 29, 1914 Great Britain Mar. 28, 1923 

